Language

A Frolic of His Own directly addresses the question of why the legal profession demands a particular style of writing that, to laymen like Oscar, is frustratingly repetitious and arcane - and, because lawyers are always "on the clock," unnecessarily expensive. Several times in the novel, lawyers state clearly: The law is all about language. The opponents of Judge Crease claim he is distorting the American language by his arguments, but his son-in-law, a lawyer, maintains he is saving and preserving it by restoring its precision. Readers are given a number of long, legal documents to savor and, generally speaking, the legalese does clarify what the characters are talking and writing about.

Following one example, Judge Crease's instructions to the jury in an accidental death by drowning during baptism, the townsfolk praise the way he spoke about things they can understand (and sided with them against Catholics on...